I Hope People Change
by mdelpin
Summary: Juvia had lost who she was, and Cana was determined to help her find her way back to the kickass mage she had once been. Entry for I Take Pride In What I Am Pride Event.


Prompt: I hope people can change  
Pairing(s): Juvia & Cana, Gray x Natsu

Of all the so-called FairyTail Brats Cana Alberona had been a member of the guild the longest. At first, with no other kids to interact with, she had been content to sit and watch, not sure what to expect from the people that had taken her in. They were an odd bunch for sure, but she liked watching them, as she tried to figure out what these people had that her mother hadn't. Why would her father choose this life instead of one with them? It was a question that kept her up at night. She just didn't understand it.

She had tried to talk to Gildarts several times since she'd joined, but every time she got his attention Cana froze, never knowing how to bring up such a weighted topic. Just saying, "Hey, I'm your kid" to someone like Gildarts Clive just didn't cut it.

All she really knew about him were stories. Crazy stories, both about his abilities and his romantic exploits. Whether she wanted to or not those stories had created an insurmountable barrier between herself and her father. Larger than life did not even begin to describe Gildarts Clive and so she continued to watch, her yearning growing as her confidence plummeted.

Other kids began to join, and as she saw what they could do, she began to concentrate on learning her magic and making friends. It was something she felt she could do, and her confidence soon began to improve, but she was still on the outside watching in.

It was a role that continued all the way through adulthood, as she spent a significant amount of time at the guild drinking. You could learn a lot about people by watching them, almost as much as you did by talking to them, something else she had gotten better at.

One of the things that she had noticed was how one person could be an agent of change for another, sometimes without that person even seeing it.

Erza had been quiet and very reserved as a child. It was understandable, considering what she had been through, not that she ever talked about it. Cana had wanted to be her friend, to help in some way and even though she'd hadn't been able to someone else had.

Gray had somehow managed to get through to her, and slowly, Erza had started to change, to be more assertive and open to the others. Smiles became less uncommon, and once Mirajane had gotten there to challenge her as well, the metamorphosis from Erza the child to the woman they had come to know as Titania had begun, and Cana wouldn't have it any other way.

Gray had also been changed by someone, in his case, Natsu. The Fire Dragon Slayer's constant taunts and challenges to the ice mage since the moment they'd met had created a strange and sometimes worrisome friendship between the two, but there was no denying that Gray was a lot happier now than he had been when he'd first arrived at Fairy Tail.

Jet and Droy had done the same for Levy and Wakaba for Macao after his wife left him. Cana could go on and on about how many times she'd seen it happen over the years. But she had never done it, never seen the need to really, not when there was always someone willing to step in to do it.

The events of the Battle of Fairy Tail had changed that for her though. For the first time, she wanted to be that agent of change, and she knew for a fact that no one else was going to step up this time. Why would they? No one except Freed had seen what she had seen, and even if they had Juvia did not make approaching her easy. Cana had been so moved by Juvia's sacrifice that she could still remember her words clearly.

_I wanted to prove to the guild that there's no reason to doubt me, I love all of you. The Fairy Tail guild will always be my home._

Yet somehow Juvia had gone from the strong woman who uttered those words, to someone who cared about only one thing. Well, person, and that was a problem because no matter how much Juvia followed Gray around or showered her affection on him, he was never going to return her love. That ship had sailed years earlier, and it would likely never change.

Juvia was only setting herself up for heartbreak, and Cana was really the only person to help. Even though the rest of the guild encouraged her, Cana was in the unique position to know what was actually going on.

She had noticed years ago that Natsu and Gray were in a relationship. They tried to be coy about it, but she'd been watching them for too long not to notice the changes, the looks that lingered longer than they used to and the occasional subtle touches under the table. It was beautiful, and Cana was happy for her friends. The only thing she couldn't figure out was why they'd chosen to keep it a secret from their family, but it wasn't her place to out them and outside of a few snide comments here and there she had left them alone.

But Juvia was blissfully unaware of all of this, and she had gotten to the point where she had isolated herself from the people she had claimed to love in a bid to claim Gray's love for herself.

Cana had spent a good time watching Juvia as well, and it was clear the girl did not see the same Gray the rest of them did. Who this Gray was that Juvia saw was a mystery to Cana, having known Gray most of her life and knowing he was none of the things Juvia declared.

Like the others, Cana had thought it was cute at first. She'd thought it was a phase, a bit of harmless hero worship for the man that Juvia felt had single-handedly saved her from a life she abhorred, and so she hadn't interfered. But as months had gone by with Juvia's behavior and attitude towards her guildmates only getting worse, Cana began to get concerned. Where before Juvia had been strong and assertive, now she was continually redefining herself as she struggled to find something that would gain her Gray's attention.

And gain Gray's attention she had, but not in the way she wanted. Gray was a very private person. He was not someone who liked to be the center of attention, content to sit quietly and listen to his guildmates or brawl with Natsu or Elfman if he was in the mood for a bit of fun. But lately Cana had noticed how he tensed up the moment Juvia entered the guild, almost as if he were expecting an attack, and in a way, Cana supposed that's what it must feel like for him to be put in the spotlight, or to have his personal space invaded continuously.

It was clear that Juvia made Gray uncomfortable and as much as he tried to be patient with the situation, Cana could tell he was nearing his limit, and so was Natsu. It must be putting a strain on their relationship, especially if Juvia followed Gray all the time, and they were still determined to keep their relationship a secret.

Simply put, Juvia had lost who she was, and Cana was determined to help her find her way back to the kickass mage she had once been. Hopefully, before she was put in a situation where she would have to face Gray or even worse a pissed off Natsu.

But how? How could she get the water mage to realize what she was doing and ease her back to who she had been before this unhealthy obsession had taken hold of her?

The only thing she could think of was to expose Natsu and Gray's relationship to Juvia, but that felt wrong. They had their reasons for being secretive, and it was not her place to go against them. So she decided to wait until Team Natsu was away on a mission, that way she could be assured of Juvia's attention.

Cana spent the rest of the afternoon thinking about Juvia and what had impressed her about her while she drank her usual amounts of alcohol, the empty barrels piling on the floor beside her.

The following morning Natsu and Gray were sparring playfully, making Erza declare that if they had so much excess energy, she would find them all a job to go on. Despite Lucy's complaints, she immediately went to the Request Board and grabbed a job, handing it to Mira before dragging her teammates out the door.

Juvia arrived about twenty minutes later, entering the guild with a hopeful expression that soon turned gloomy as soon as she realized her beloved wasn't there. Cana decided she should take advantage of the opportunity she'd just been given.

"Hey Juvia," She called out to the water mage noticing the suspicion on Juvia's face at the attention, "What are you up to today?"

When Cana did not move from her stool, Juvia grudgingly made her way over to her, sitting on a nearby stool.

"Juvia doesn't know yet," Juvia replied thoughtfully. She remained quiet for a few minutes before asking, "Do you know where Gray-sama is?

"He left with his team on a job a while ago," Cana answered honestly, "Would you like a drink?"

"It's much too early to drink," Juvia responded, making no attempt to disguise her disdain.

Cana shrugged with a smile, "Never too early for me."

She wasn't really sure how to do this, the others made it look so easy, but she didn't know what to do or what to say to get the conversation going. Usually, Cana could talk about anything, but Juvia didn't really look too thrilled to be there, and Cana was nervous the whole thing would backfire on her. Come on, Cana, think.

"Hey, do you want to go for a walk? I heard it was supposed to be a nice day out today," Cana suggested, thinking a walk around Magnolia might be less stressful, it would also keep her away from the temptation of drinking the day away. She knew she needed to be sober if this was to have any chance of working.

"Juvia supposes," Juvia replied without much enthusiasm.

"Come on, it will be fun!" Cana chirped hoping it would be true. She got up and led them outside heading towards South Gate Park, which was always pretty in the Spring.

"What was it like to live in Oak Town?" Cana asked, remembering that Juvia had lived there while she had been a member of Phantom Lord.

"It was rainy and gloomy, everything was gloomy before Juvia met Gray-sama."

"Uhm, did you date anyone?"

"Juvia dated a fire mage named Bora, but he grew tired of the rain, so he dumped her."

"Bora?" Cana knew that name sounded familiar, and when she made the connection, she started laughing hysterically, "You dated the guy that tried to sell Lucy into slavery?"

Juvia looked surprised although Cana heard her mutter something about love-rival before responding stiffly, "Juvia was not aware Bora did that."

"Oh yeah," Cana continued to laugh, "He tried to impersonate Natsu, it did not end well."

"But Bora looks nothing like Natsu," Juvia sounded puzzled, but then she laughed, "Bora was never very smart."

Cana laughed along with her until she added, "Not like my Gray-sama."

Right, need to get her off the topic. "How do you like living in Magnolia so far?"

"Juvia likes being able to see Gray-sama every day, and because she is happy, it doesn't rain as much."

_Gray again, ugh, time to change the topic. _But no matter how many times Cana changed the topic conversation inevitably returned to Juvia's favorite subject. Cana was getting aggravated, and she really wanted a drink. It irked her to realize that not once had Juvia asked a question about her or any of the others, nor had she ever spoken about herself in any way that was independent of Gray.

This was ridiculous and so much worse than she'd feared, Fairy Tail was all about friendship, about the bonds that they had all forged together over the years. They were a group of misfits that had chosen each other to form a family of sorts, and they had welcomed this person with open arms, but it was like they didn't exist in her eyes.

How could one person have changed her mind so much in such a short time? Cana was surprised to find that somewhere along the way she had changed their course. She recognized the path they had taken during the battle of Fairy Tail, the place where they had been trapped in Freed's runes was just up ahead.

When Juvia continued to go on about Gray, Cana found she'd had just about enough.

"That's enough!" She snapped at the water mage as she pulled at her hair, "For God's sake Juvia, do you even hear yourself? Gray this and Gray that. He's all you talk about!"

Juvia became quiet, her eyes staring at Cana with a hurt expression that made her immediately regret her outburst. Juvia turned to leave, but Cana grabbed her arm to stop her. She pointed at their location.

"Do you see where we are?" Cana pleaded, needing for the girl to see, "Do you even remember what happened here?"

"Of course Juvia remembers, this is where we fought Freed."

"Yes!" Cana said happily, "Yes, it is, but do you remember what you said to us?"

"Juvia doesn't know what you mean, Juvia did her duty."

"Duty?" Cana repeated, sad that Juvia had forgotten how impressive her actions had truly been, "No Juvia, you didn't do your duty. You sacrificed yourself for the guild, for all of us. Not for Gray, for all of us. That's when I knew for sure you were one of us. Only a Fairy Tail wizard would do something that reckless and stupid."

Juvia studied her, a frown marring her features as if she were trying to understand what Cana was saying, what she wanted from her.

"We're a family Juvia, and sure a lot of us are annoying as hell, but every single person in our guild is as important as the next. It doesn't matter how powerful they are, even Laxus finally learned that."

"I understand you feel strongly about Gray, but you can't focus on him to the exclusion of all others. That's not what being in a guild is about, hell it's not even what being in love is about."

"If you want to take Gray for yourself, Juvia will not stand for it." Whether she realized it or not Juvia had adopted a fighting stance.

Cana stared at the water mage in disbelief, "Are you even listening to me? Juvia, not every girl in the guild is a rival for Gray's affection. Most of us see him as an annoying brother, to be honest. We're your friends, or we want to be, but you won't let us in."

"You're an amazingly strong mage, and your actions here proved that you're also a very strong woman. That's the Juvia that you should be, not whatever you think Gray will like. If there's something I've learned over the years, it's that you have to be happy with yourself before you can even try to make someone else happy."

And it was true, it was the biggest reason why she had yet to tell her father who she was. She wanted to be in a place where she felt he could be proud to call her his daughter.

"What if Juvia doesn't know who she is anymore?" Juvia said in a quiet voice as she looked at the ground.

Cana kneeled so she could look into Juvia's face, "Then you let your family help you figure it out. Let us in Juvia, we want to help. We love you, you said it before Fairy Tail will always be your home."

"Juvia doesn't know…"

"Well, just promise me you'll think about it at least."

Juvia kept looking at the ground before finally raising her head and giving Cana a small smile, "Alright, Juvia will think about it."

"And if I can give one last piece of advice, maybe give Gray a chance to be your friend on his terms."

Juvia's lips tightened, but she didn't reply.

"Do you want to go down by the river, it's such a nice day maybe we can dip our feet in?"

"Juvia would like that."

xxx

"I don't want to hear your excuses, you stupid dragon," Gray growled as he pinned Natsu underneath him. They had just returned from their job and had raced to their spot, Gray having beaten Natsu for once, "I won fair and square, and you said the winner could pick any prize they wanted."

"Gray, we're in public, and there's water nearby, you know I won't be able to smell her," Natsu reminded him as he tried to push his boyfriend off.

"I don't care, it's been ages since we've been able to be alone," Gray complained before leaning down and claiming Natsu's lips hungrily.

Natsu made another token effort to resist but was soon too distracted by the intensity of Gray's kiss to care, he was soon returning the kiss and nudging Gray to let go of his arms. As soon as they were free, he wrapped them around his boyfriend, hands moving as he caressed the hard muscles of Gray's backside.

Distracted as they were neither man heard the muffled gasps or the accompanying running steps. They did hear Cana yelling out Juvia's name, and they felt the drops of rain that began as a gentle patter but soon turned into a downpour. They looked at each other worriedly as they realized they'd been caught.

"Shit!" Gray punched the patch of sand by Natsu's head.

"Shit!" Natsu agreed wholeheartedly.

"Now everyone is going to find out," Gray stated unnecessarily.

Natsu remained quiet for a minute then shrugged, "Maybe it's time, we'd been getting ready to tell people before Juvia showed up."

Gray stared at Natsu, trying to gauge whether he was really okay with this and when he could sense no hesitation in his boyfriend, he smiled. "Okay, let's go."

"Are you okay with having to face Juvia?" Natsu asked, the worry on his face making Gray smile.

Gray wasn't pleased with the situation, but there was no getting out of it, "We knew this would happen eventually, let's just go get it over with."

They kissed one last time before getting up and making their way to the guild hall hand in hand, neither one relishing having to tell Erza that they'd hidden something from her for two years.

Xxx

"Juvia! Wait, Juvia!" Cana chased after her realizing once again that she needed to exercise more and drink less. Juvia was surprisingly fast on her feet, which was impressive, considering she was crying. Then again her body _was_ made of water, well more than usual anyway.

Juvia had finally stopped in front of the guild turning to glare at Cana and yell accusingly, "You said you were my friend, you took Juvia there to see them, didn't you?"

"No!," Cana protested, "I told you, they were out on the job. How was I supposed to know they were there?"

"But you did know about them, didn't you?"

Cana didn't want to lie, and besides the cat was most definitely out of the bag. "I did know, but no one else does. I just wanted to see you back to the way you were, and maybe I was trying to prepare you, I don't know. I've never tried to do this before. Usually, I just sit and watch," Cana said sadly.

"Why? Why is Juvia so important to you?" Juvia asked through her tears, and she sounded so lost it broke Cana's heart.

"What do you mean why?' Cana tried to wipe Juvia's tears away but quickly stopped, realizing it was pointless with all the rain. "I told you stupid, you're my friend and my family. I love you, and I want to see you happy."

"Juvia doesn't know how to be happy, she never has, that's the problem."

"Then we'll help you figure it out, but we can't do that if you don't let us in."

The guild doors opened, and people started coming out, wanting to check out what was wrong. Soon Juvia found herself surrounded by a worried Lucy, Erza, and Levy. Macao was asking her what was wrong and if he had to go beat up Gray. More and more mages came out, and Cana stepped back, letting them smother Juvia in their affection willing her to see what she'd been trying to tell her.

There was nothing more for her to do. Cana was a tad disappointed, nothing had gone the way she'd hoped but she'd tried her best, and she could only hope that Juvia would consider her words.

They would all be there for her if only she would let them. Just as they would be there for Gray and Natsu when they finally showed up. After all, Fairy Tail was a family, and that's what families did.


End file.
